After adding a little levity to the room on Tuesday, addressing a room full of fellow coaches, administrators, NAIA staff and media, Benedictine football head coach Larry Wilcox took his turn at the podium at the annual Heart of America Athletic Conference (HAAC) Football Media Day held at the NAIA Headquarters in downtown Kansas City.
“Two of my favorite things in life are going to the dentist and media day,” Coach Wilcox stated before getting into his thoughts on the upcoming season.
The Ravens were selected third by the HAAC coaches in the annual HAAC Coaches’ Poll with 65 points. The two programs Benedictine shared the 2013 title with, Missouri Valley College and Baker University, were selected first and second respectively. Missouri Valley garnered six of the 10 first place votes with Baker getting the remaining four.
“The nucleas of our offense is going to be our offensive line,” Wilcox said. “We lost a lot of starters so the offensive line will not only have to be the core of our offense but really our entire team.”
Back for the Ravens on the offensive line are four starters in David Stochlin, Hayden Smith, Rory Mount and Dom Carroli. All four earned All-HAAC honors in 2013 with Stochlin also earning an All-America nomination from the Beyond Sports Network.
Benedictine replaces NAIA All-America selection Cameron Fore at running back, along with three-year starting quarterback Bill Noonan, running back Kevon McGrew and fullback Brad Lorang.
“We’re still not sure who the pieces are going to be but when we do find that out, those guys up front better be prepared,” Wilcox said.
Hayden Smith joined Coach Wilcox at the podium to address the crowd and echoed the same thoughts on the importance of the offensive line being prepared.
“There is a lot of pressure on us,” Smith said. “We’ve got to focus on our fundementals every play. We’re only going to be as good of a team as we are on the offensive line so we’ve got to be prepared.”
Peru State College was selected fourth with 56 points followed by MNU in fifth and Evangel University in sixth. Central Methodist University was selected seventh, followed by Avila University, Culver-Stockton College and Graceland University.
This season will be the final season for a 10-team conference as William Penn and Grandview University are set to join the HAAC for the 2015 season. Grandview recently won the 2013 NAIA National Championship, a fact that Coach Wilcox was honest about.
“I’ll be honest,” Coach Wilcox said. “I’ve got mixed emotions about the expansion. It’s going to make things a little tougher and more difficult and like everything else, we’re preparing for that as a staff.”
Benedictine opens the 2014 season the road Aug. 30 against Briar Cliff University in Vermillion, South Dakota, at the Dakota Dome. They open their home schedule on Sept. 13 against Ottawa University in the final year of the KCAC-HAAC Series.
— BC Sports Information —